Overview

The unemployment rate in America was unchanged in December, at 10%. Firms, excluding farms, cut 85,000 workers from their payrolls, dashing hopes that job losses had come to an end. Revised figures showed that firms had added 4,000 workers in November, the first increase in almost two years. The stock of consumer credit, which includes credit-card debt and bank overdrafts, shrank for a tenth consecutive month in December, by a record $17.5 billion.

China's central bank unexpectedly increased the ratio of deposits it requires banks to hold with it, by 0.5 percentage points. The new restriction, which takes effect on January 18th, came amid expressions of concern by government officials that parts of China's housing market looked frothy.

The euro area's unemployment rate rose to 10% in November, up from 8% a year earlier. Based on the harmonised figures computed by Eurostat, the rate in Germany, the currency zone's largest country, was unchanged, at 7.6%. Jobless rates in the three next-largest countries all moved up a notch: from 9.9% to 10% in France; from 8.2% to 8.3% in Italy; and from 19.3% to 19.4% in Spain. The rate in Ireland, which had shown signs of stabilising, jumped from 12.5% to 12.9%.